Ohio State not worried about Marvin Harrison Jr. production
COLUMBUS — The 24-yard touchdown Ohio State superstar wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. caught at Indiana should have counted, according to head coach Ryan Day, who said Thursday on his 97.1 The Fan radio show that he was told — presumably by Big Ten officials — that Harrison didn’t actually commit illegal touching on that third quarter pass.
“He was forced out by the defender,” Day said. “They thought he ran out on his own. That didn’t happen. So that was missed, and they let us know that.”
Harrison could have had two additional touchdowns.
Ohio State starting quarterback Kyle McCord, who won three state titles with Harrison at St. Joe’s Prep in Philadelphia, threw behind Harrison near the goal line in the third quarter. Then McCord couldn’t connect with Harrison on a goal line fade at the other end of the field in the fourth quarter.
There were other times where McCord missed Harrison streaking downfield.
“A few of them were my fault for sure,” McCord said postgame. “Just felt like I could have given him a better ball, whatever the case may be. But I gotta go back and watch the film and just kind of assess everything.”
So, when all was said and done, Harrison finished the season opener with two catches for 18 yards, despite being targeted eight times.
Last year, the Biletnikoff Award finalist never had fewer than three receptions in a game. Except, in one of those three-reception games, against Rutgers, he also posted only 18 receiving yards.
“There was a couple other things that we had designed, where maybe they took him away, which is going to happen,” Day explained Tuesday. “And that’s where guys like Cade [Stover] and Julian [Fleming] are gonna have to step up because that is going to happen this season. But we’re going to continually find ways to be creative and try to get him the ball. I thought we did do that. We targeted him some.
“If we connect on a few of those and the touchdown, you probably feel a little bit different coming out of the game, but, again, with the number of plays — I think we threw it maybe 36 times in the game and he wasn’t in the last drive — we’re just gonna have to really be on point.”
Harrison isn’t the first big-time Ohio State wideout to have an off game.
Before rewriting the Buckeyes’ single-season record book in 2021, Jaxon Smith-Njigba started the year with a two-catch, 12-yard game at Minnesota — the same week C.J. Stroud was making his first Ohio State start at quarterback. That season, Chris Olave, who nearly joined Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson in the 1,000-yard receiving club, had a pair of two-catch outings, including one at Indiana.
Plus, Emeka Egbuka — like Harrison, a first-round NFL Draft prospect who went over 1,000 yards last season — had an underwhelming 2023 debut as well. He made three grabs for a measly 16 yards.
And, besides, it could have been worse for Harrison. During an Ohio State two-minute drill late in the second quarter, Harrison went down awkwardly near the sideline after trying to highpoint a McCord pass.
Immediately, Ohio State fans had flashbacks to Smith-Njigba’s hamstring injury against Notre Dame in last year’s opener that cost him practically the entire 2022 campaign.
Luckily for Ohio State, Harrison swiftly returned to action and finished out the game, playing 58 offensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
Day said the Buckeyes will continue to find ways to get Harrison the ball.
“But teams are going to take him away, too,” Day noted.
“So when that happens, that’s part of where other guys got to step up. And when we’ve been at our best, when we’ve had weapons all over the place, other guys have stepped up so that they can’t just take one guy away.”
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